Osborne 1 is the first commercially successful portable computer, released on April 3, 1981 by Osborne Computer Corporation.
| FactSnippet No. 536,772 |
13 Facts About Osborne 1
2.
Osborne 1 was developed by Adam Osborne and designed by Lee Felsenstein, first announced in early 1981.
| FactSnippet No. 536,773 |
3.
The Osborne 1 is about the size and weight of a sewing machine and was advertised as the only computer that would fit underneath an airline seat.
| FactSnippet No. 536,774 |
4.
Osborne 1 was described as "a cross between a World War II field radio and a shrunken instrument panel of a DC-3", and Felstenstein admitted that carrying two of them to a trade show "nearly pulled my arms out of their sockets".
| FactSnippet No. 536,775 |
5.
Adam Osborne 1 agreed but emphasized the price, stating that its performance was "merely adequate": "It is not the fastest microcomputer, it doesn't have huge amounts of disk storage space, and it is not especially expandable.
| FactSnippet No. 536,776 |
6.
Osborne 1 sold 11, 000 units in the first eight months of sales, and sales at their peak reached 10, 000 units per month.
| FactSnippet No. 536,777 |
7.
The Osborne 1's popularity was surpassed by the similar Kaypro II; which has a larger, 9 inches CRT that can display 80 characters on 24 lines, and double density floppies that can store twice as much data.
| FactSnippet No. 536,778 |
9.
Osborne 1 is powered by a wall plug with a switched-mode power supply, and has no internal battery.
| FactSnippet No. 536,780 |
10.
Osborne 1 bought the mod and both of them worked with the company to implement the mod.
| FactSnippet No. 536,781 |
11.
Geoff developed other upgrades for Osborne 1's and was regarded as the Australian expert on the computers.
| FactSnippet No. 536,782 |
12.
Osborne 1 praised the quality of the documentation, and agreed with Pournelle that the screen's size did not cause difficulty.
| FactSnippet No. 536,783 |